How Useless Politicians are Keeping Africa and Liberia Poor

Lilian Isatu Kargbo
Jun 3, 2021
7 min read

by

Lilian (Isatu) Kargbo & ChuChu (Alex) Jones

Look around Africa today and you see a vibrant-talented youthful population; beautiful landscapes and an abundance of natural and human resources that are the envy of America, Europe, and Asia. Why is Africa then poor, deprived, and begging, one might ask? It is because Africa, and Liberia in particular, has very few good social justice and ethical leaders and an abundance of useless, western-educated politicians.

Africa and Liberia are also poor because their youth population is complacent and foolish, and they tolerate individuals that dazzle them with money (mostly ill-gotten from state corruption and/or corporate exploitations of African markets) which they later use to buy state power.

Another reason for the poverty epidemic in Africa is that Africans that lived and are schooled in advanced nations like Europe and America are callous and indifferent towards their own African and Black brothers and sisters. They believe they should always be seated higher in positions, status, and government. Just as White-Supremacists in America seek to subjugate Blacks and minorities, African elitists [especially the highly western-educated ones] have an arrogant sense of entitlement of African politics, and they want to be president even when there are more moral, competent, and capable Africans back home that is better suited for the presidency and national leadership. In fact, most of the Leaders in Africa that have exemplified good moral, common sense and national leadership are not western graduates or rich US corporate luminaries.

Leaders like Nelson Mandela, Paul Kagami, Jerry Rawlings, Johns Magufuli, and Quett Masire, who became the second and most meaningful president of Botswana that graciously stepdown from the presidency in 1998 after taking Botswana from colonial rule to independence did not have any western advanced degrees or previous western corporate experience. Masire only education was a Master Farmers Certificate which he earned locally, and which established him and his country as a business and agricultural powerhouse. Botswana's beef became a foreign export to Europe, and Botswana not only owns 50 percent of all diamond concessions within Botswana but also 15 percent in De Beers, a London-based international trading and mining company founded by Cecil Rhodes that sells about 25 percent of the world’s diamonds.

Furthermore, African presidents that previously lived in western democracies, or obtained western university degrees have most often become egregiously corrupt, totalitarian, and toxic to sustained growth and development in Africa. And there are many examples of this all over Africa including President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe of Togo who holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Financial Management from Sorbonne University in Paris; Alassane Uoattara of Ivory Coast, Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania; Alpha Condé of Guinea, University graduate of the Faculty of Law of the Sorbonne and the Institute of Political Studies of Paris; and, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, who remained in power 37 years until he was deposed by the Zimbabwean military in 2017. Despite Mugabe’s numerous western advanced degrees that included a Bachelor of Science (BSc.) in Economics from the University of London,

Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from the University of London, Master of Laws (LL.M) from the University of London, Master of Science (MSc.) in Economics from the University of London, Zimbabweans suffered widespread hunger, political instability, international condemnation, sanctions, and hyperinflation for much of his presidency.

Liberia for its part holds the record for presidents with western advanced degrees. All three of Liberia’s last elected presidents (George Weah, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and Charles Taylor), and nearly all its previous elected presidents, Samuel K. Doe being the exception, were immensely educated, and yet Liberia has always been corrupted and misgoverned, according to the comprehensive research report compiled by the Liberia Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).

Today, Liberia's five leading candidates for the presidency for 2023 (Benoni Urey, Alexander B. Cummings, Joseph N. Boakia, and the incumbent George Weah) all have advanced US degrees.

Alexander B. Cummings, a former Coke-Cola senior executive that obtained his MBA from Clark-Atlanta University and spent his entire professional life outside of Liberia until he decided to run for the Liberia presidency in 2016, previously serving as Coke-Cola Nigeria head before later running Coke Africa’s division, has publicly lamented that he is not interested in any other position in Liberia except being president. In other words, he must be the president of Liberia since he is too important to serve his country and people in any other capacity.

It is not just Cummings, every other Liberian educated or half-educated person from America wants to be president of Liberia. They are not interested in building factories, mechanized farms, or opening manufacturing businesses that could employ Liberia’s deprived youth; or, cultivate their entrepreneurial skills that would enable them to support themselves rather than voting and supporting them. For now, these MBA political aspirants can care less as they must sit atop the African political food chain even as they provide nothing but empty hopes and dreams to Liberian youth.

They all want to be another George Weah, who traded his soccer cleats for the the insanity of being another Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf- so must Cummings, Boakia, and Henry Costa, the infamous Talk-show host who recently obtained his western degree also wishes to someday become Liberia’s imperial president.

Even convicted war criminal Charles Taylor’s business partner, who was sanctioned by the TRC for economic thievery and mayhem while serving as Charles Taylor righthand man is today a political leader in Liberia. Taylor’s ex-wife and co-conspirator who is now Liberia's Vice President also wants to be president. Her former assistant, Darius Dillion, who has mustered the gall and utter temerity after successfully running for Senator now believe he too can become president or vice president in 2023.

His previous public record prior to becoming a Liberian Senator was administrative assistant to Rep. Edwin Showe, Charles

Taylor's ex-son-in-law, who is also sanction from holding public office in Liberia by the TRC.

Dillon has been an unabashed cheerleader of the Corrupt Unity Party and Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf's government, and according to former Liberian Vice President Joseph Boikia who also served in that government, "they squandered Liberia’s public resources" over its 12-years. Their indifference to government corruption and duplicity gave room for George Weah to run and win the presidency in 2017.

Alas, Liberians in America ignore the insipid past of Dillon, Boakia, Urey, and others by giving media, political and financial support to these characters. Many of whom are overpaid government officials, thanks to legalized government corruption in Liberia that Legislates and allocates millions of dollars to themselves every year: paying themselves insanely generous government salaries and compensation like USD $10,000 per month, $40,000 SUVs, hundreds of gallons of free gasoline, etc., but have yet to allocate a dime for the construction of public libraries and children’s hospitals in over 15 years.

Politicians in Africa seldom advance any social justice and economic program like unemployment benefits and healthcare. And despite their grandstanding and western education, Liberia is still and would likely remain the poorest country in the world regardless of which one of these useless politicians comes to power.

Meanwhile, we (in America and Europe) idealize many of them and are more focused on investing in our on materialism and gadgets like the latest iPhone, Brazilian Wig, Michael Kors’s designer purse, and Hennessy cognac cocktails rather than investing in library and healthcare for the least fortunate back home. We ignore issues of child and adult rape, teen prostitution, poverty, gender inequity, gays lynching, and other social injustices, government abuses and female genital mutilations, to name a few.

We often turn a blind eye at these horrific acts committed by members of our government, churches, tribes, and political party members. More importantly, we ignore these fundamental national issues (instead we advocate for silly issues like dual citizenship that helps even more useless politicians from America become eligible for the presidency, and other high government positions), and we delegate our civic obligations to foreign governments and organizations like the Bill and Malinda Gates Foundation, Global Witness, and other international advocacy groups.

Western, miseducation has misdirected many Africans abroad to desperately campaign for politicians that looks and sounds western (Taylor, Ellen, Urey, to name a few) in hopes of achieving American-style democracy and development in Africa. That has not only prematurely invigorated their democratic pretentions but has also reduced many to nothing more than the flocks of these African Political leaders, who are waiting like vultures to salvage what little resource lift in Liberia and elsewhere once elected. Unlike democracy in America where vigorous public debates and prowling interview of political candidates are demanded and conducted, no one really gets to hear any specificity as to how any of these politicians will curb public corruption, reduce foreign debt, provide local jobs, healthcare and stop violence against girls and women in these countries. All that is heard is that each is the best person for the presidency. And what is known is that none of them have had any good public service recorded anywhere.

Therefore, people in Liberia and many parts of Africa will continue to needlessly suffer and most likely remain poor until we (the ordinary people) are bold enough to challenge and dismantle the greed and political fraud in Liberia and much of Africa, which has masqueraded as legitimate democracy but is instead a Kleptocracy. As a result, political parties and leaders are jostling at each other at every election circle for power and government wealth.

Finally, we leave you with the words of Edmund Burke, the English statesman and economist who criticized the British Government Taxation of America’s Colonies and urge them to resist the English Metropolitan Authority, which eventually led to America’s Independence in 1776.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men [and women] to do nothing.”

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